BOX
Real Name: Roger Jr.; surname presumably Bochs (see
comments)
Identity/Class: Human technology user
Occupation: Student
Group Membership: Braddock Academy
Affiliations: Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Meggan Puceanu Braddock, Loch
Enemies: Thanos' forces
Known Relatives: Roger Bochs Sr. (Box, father, deceased)
Aliases: "Ben substitute"
Base of Operations: Braddock Academy, Essex, UK
First Appearance: Infinity: The Hunt#1 (November, 2013)
Powers/Abilities: The Box armor grants superhuman strength whose exact level is unrevealed, but in excess of being able to lift 40 tons. Presumably made of steel like its predecessors, its mechanical construction made it extremely durable. It is equipped with jets enabling it to fly, though no top range nor speed has been revealed. The armor may have been controlled remotely via a psycho-cybernetic helmet (like the first depicted Box armor), or via the pilot phasing into it (like subsequent Box armors), or via the pilot sitting within a hollowed-out pilot's section (as with most powered armors). Box can survive underwater. Roger may possess higher than average intelligence and be a skilled engineer and scientist (see comments).
Height:
(armor) 7'5" (by approximation); (Bochs) unrevealed
Weight: (armor) 500 lbs. (by approximation); (Bochs) unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed
History: (Infinity: The Hunt#1 (fb) - BTS) - The son of Roger Bochs, creator of the Box armor, Roger Jr. was born with the same congenital condition that robbed his father of his legs at birth. Presumably similarly disabled, at some point Roger acquired a Box armor based on his father's original designs (see comments), and was recruited as a student of Britain's Braddock Academy, with the intention of training to join the next generation of heroes.
(Infinity: The Hunt#1 (fb) - BTS) - When a competition was arranged between the world's various super-schools, to be held at Avengers Academy in Palo Alto, California, Box was one of two students chosen to represent Braddock Academy, albeit in part because several more senior students were absent, believed truanting but in fact having been abducted by the assassin Arcade.
(Infinity: The Hunt#1) - One by one, a teacher from each school introduced their establishment's participating students. When Braddock Academy's turn came, Meggan Braddock introduced Box and Loch. Moments later, Thanos' armies launched a worldwide attack, interrupting proceedings.
(Infinity: The Hunt#2) - As Thanos' forces attacked Avengers Academy,
the students were ordered to retreat underground to the facility's panic
room. Some of the kids, including Box, were unimpressed with the concept
of being locked up until the fighting ended, with Box wondering aloud why
they were even attending superhero schools if not to prepare for situations
like this one. In the panic room, Future Foundation genius student Bentley-23
informed the others that he believed the attackers were looking for something,
prompting an insulting response from Jean Grey Academy student Quentin Quire.
Box immediately ordered the teen to leave the younger boy alone, and for a
moment it looked like an argument might erupt between Box and Quire. Things
calmed down, however, and the students were still debating what to do when
they received an incoming call from the surviving students of the Latverian
School of Science. After comparing notes, Latveria's Morg urged them all
to come to the assistance of Atlantis, which had been decimated in the attack.
(Infinity: The Hunt#3) - Box helped the other students fly a purloined Quinjet to Atlantis, apparently handling navigation duties. As they flew over the ocean above Atlantis, their vehicle was attacked by winged aliens, then knocked out the sky completely by the arriving vehicle of the students from the Pan-Asian school. While other flight-capable or amphibious students began fighting the aliens, Box began to sink below the waves. Swiftly recovering, he reached the Quinjet's floating remains, and battled one of the aliens that had been menacing the Future Foundations' Moloids. Viewing their defender as their "Ben substitute" (the trio all but worshipped Ben Grimm, the Thing), and uncomfortable around water, the trio huddled together, expressing upset when Box suffered a violent strike from his opponent. Moments later, a giant Leviathan's mouth rose up from the water, entirely engulfing the downed ships and the students.
(Infinity: The Hunt#4) - The creature swallowed them all, but proved to be non-hostile, storing them all in an air-filled chamber within its body, where images playing on bizarre internal organs explained it was the symbiotic protector of Atlantean Academy student Whalesong. The group traversed the Leviathan's innards, with Box carrying the three Moloids on his broad shoulders. Determining that Thanos' minions had departed to attack Wakanda next, some of the students suggested they should sit aside, letting the attack take place unimpeded as payback for Wakanda having devastated Atlantis in a recent conflict, shortly prior to Thanos' attack. However, Box disagreed, insisting they stop arguing and wondering how they could get to Wakanda in time, now that their vehicles were gone. Latverian student Demona resolved this, teleporting everyone to Wakanda where they joined local forces trying to repel the invaders. Faced with a giant alien bent on destroying all the students, the group co-ordinated their attacks, directed by Pan-Asian genius Gang with telepath Quire linking them all telepathically, with Box instructed to join other students attacking the creature from the air. With the giant alien defeated, the attack on Wakanda ended with the students and local forces victorious.
Comments: Created by Matt Kindt (writer) and Steven Sanders (art).
Lots of unanswered questions given his brief appearance. We never saw his human self, so no idea what he looks like. He's called Roger Jr., after his father, but there's no guarantee his surname is Bochs - he might have been born out of wedlock. The wording about his armor is somewhat ambiguous - for instance, did he build his own armor based on his father's designs, in which case he's got to be pretty mechanically adept. On the other hand, someone else could have built it and given it to him - Madison Jeffries would be the most obvious option, both in terms of ability to make such an item and motivation to do so, a way of repaying a debt to an old friend whose death Jeffries feels culpable for, and giving a disabled kid back his full mobility. We're told that this armor is stronger and faster than its predecessor, but also that it is based on the "original design" - so it may be based on the much weaker armor used to fight Guardian, rather than the improved version that Jeffries helped Roger Sr. build. If based on the original, then this armor is stronger than one capable of lifting 40 tons, but if based on the later armor, it is stronger than one that could lift 85 tons. This "improved on which design" uncertainty also raises the query as to how the pilot controls the armor, as noted in the powers section above.
On a personality front, it is interesting to see how quickly Box steps in to counter Quire's bullying of the smaller and younger Bentley-23, and how he appears to similarly look out for the Moloids. Either because he has a strong sense of justice, or perhaps because he too is / was the smaller kid who faced bulling, or both, he seems to automatically look out for the younger children around him. He must have gotten on so well with Braddock Academy's resident bully, Kid Briton.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Box is connected to, but should not be confused with
Box has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Infinity: The Hunt#1, p14, pan2 (main image)
Infinity: The Hunt#4, p15, pan2 (flying)
Infinity: The Hunt#2, p14, pan5 (Box with other students, establishing relative
heights)
Appearances:
Infinity: The Hunt#1-3 (November-December, 2013) - Matt Kindt (writer), Steven
Sanders (art), Nick Lowe (editor)
Infinity: The Hunt#4 (January, 2013) - Matt Kindt (writer), Steven Sanders,
Paco Diaz & Derec Donovan (art), Nick Lowe (editor).
Last updated: 04/25/16
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